Acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Tsui Hark is set to be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Italy’s Udine.
The director, known for blockbusters The Battle at Lake Changjin, Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back and the Detective Dee film series, will receive the Golden Mulberry Award at the festival on April 30.
The award will be presented by Tony Leung Ka-Fai, who appears in Tsui’s latest martial arts film, Legends Of The Condor Heroes: The Gallants. The feature, which was acquired by Sony Pictures International Productions, will screen at the festival alongside a restored version of his 1984 comedy Shanghai Blues and 1993 fantasy drama Green Snake.
As previously announced, Taiwanese actress and filmmaker Sylvia Chang – who starred in Shanghai Blues and more recently received an honourable mention at Toronto for her performance in Huang Xi’s Daughter’s Daughter – will also accept a Golden Mulberry Award for lifetime achievement at the festival on May 1.
Tsui’s career spans more than 45 years, beginning with 1979’s The Butterfly Murders. He founded Film Workshop in 1984 with Nansun Shi, through which he directed classics such as Zu Warriors From The Magic Mountain and produced features including John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow and the A Chinese Ghost Story series, directed by Tony Ching. Shi received FEFF’s Golden Mulberry in 2015 when Tsui’s The Taking Of Tiger Mountain played as the festival’s closing film.
Tsui, who is also an actor and screenwriter, is further known for the Once Upon A Time In China film series.
He has previously received lifetime achievement honours at the Asian Film Awards, New York Asian Film Festival and Dubai International Film Festival, having also picked up Asian filmmaker of the year at Busan in 2011; the outstanding contribution to Chinese cinema award at Shanghai in 2013; and the maverick director award at Rome Film Fest, also in 2013.
Tsui’s Detective Dee: The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame played in Competition at Venice in 2010 and was at Cannes in 2007 with anthology feature Triangle, which played out of competition.
The 27th FEFF will run from April 24 to May 2, opening with Xu Lei’s comedy drama Green Wave and closing with Shuhei Shibue’s manga adaptation Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie.
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